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[Elvang]

I'm playing with the Fortress Defense II mod, so it isn't all that unusual to have 4 or 5 sieges/ambushes going on at the same time. My 12 military dwarves handle it fine, but they continually chase retreating enemy squads to the edge of the map, ignoring any new kill/station/patrol orders I give them to try and get them moving back to my fort entrance, which is now unguarded. Any ideas how I can get these squads to stop chasing the retreating enemies and move back to their designated position to guard?

[SpiralDimentia]

You ever try to tell a bloodthirsty dwarf to 'stop killing that thing to death'? You might as well try to take his ale from him. You'd be more successful.

[Elvang]

Heh. I've even tried switching them back to civilian status, but I guess since they're in a squad they don't get scared of stuff, as they gladly continue killing anything hostile.

[SpiralDimentia]

Wow, even as civilians they still go on murder sprees? That's actually kind of impressive.

[Elvang]

Yea, was pretty cool when they were all training up to be archers. Since the uniform was set to be active even off duty, and they didn't have any labors other than hauling active, they'd gladly carry their crossbows+quivers around with them while picking up the results of the last siege. I felt bad for the ambushes that occurred while they were cleaning up my entrance, as they'd all stop for a moment, unload their quivers, then continue on their way to store yet another copper shield as if nothing happened.

Whenever this occurred, they didn't even switch status from civilian, so I assume at some point in their training they just stop being scared, and attack. Haven't tried training up a squad to be used as siege operators yet to see if they won't run away still or not though. I'd assume rather than running away in fear, they'd run towards the enemy to attack instead, so it wouldn't be much of an improvement.

[SpiralDimentia]

I've had a team of Legendary ballista operators. They still ran, which was moderatyely disappointing. However, I've also had a mechanic, who had NO military skills whatsoever, not even dabbling, pick up a crossbow and some bolts and start unloading on a Minotaur. Killed it, too. She didn't have hunting enabled, and wasn't part of the military.

I guess sometimes, dwarves had simply had enough shit and need to kill something until it dies from it.

[sambojin]

What I'm about to suggest is normally a problem to work around, but in this case it may work as a solution. Try enabling mining, hunting or wood cutting (or all three) through Dwarf Therapist on the squad's members as well as designating an area to mine/chop. That usually buggers up any orders a military squad attempts.

Then give them a kill order, move or even cancel orders thing through the military screen. You may have to make them inactive for a little bit as well (you can't give proper orders without un-pausing for a bit anyway). Then disable those labours, reactivate the squad if necessary and hope that they don't go all screwy. They'll take a while to get their gear back on though.

Could you post a reply on if this fixes the problem?

[Ethnar]

Wouldn't burrows solve that issue? Not sure myself, I ain't good friends with burrows yet.

Also - as for moving dwarves to civilian status - I believe it takes some time to "kick in". Dwarves often try to finish the current job  they're doing [citation needed ] to switch to military or back.

[MonkeyHead]

Dwarves wont attack someting they cant see - so closing bridges/floodgates at bottlenecks would stop chasing.

Or remove thier eyes, if a handy FB syndrome presents itself.

[Elvang]

What I'm about to suggest is normally a problem to work around, but in this case it may work as a solution. Try enabling mining, hunting or wood cutting (or all three) through Dwarf Therapist on the squad's members as well as designating an area to mine/chop. That usually buggers up any orders a military squad attempts.

Then give them a kill order, move or even cancel orders thing through the military screen. You may have to make them inactive for a little bit as well (you can't give proper orders without un-pausing for a bit anyway). Then disable those labours, reactivate the squad if necessary and hope that they don't go all screwy. They'll take a while to get their gear back on though.

Could you post a reply on if this fixes the problem?

Tried it, they pause for a moment and then charge at the nearest enemy they can see, which is usually the one they are chasing.

Wouldn't burrows solve that issue? Not sure myself, I ain't good friends with burrows yet.

Also - as for moving dwarves to civilian status - I believe it takes some time to "kick in". Dwarves often try to finish the current job  they're doing [citation needed ] to switch to military or back.

As far as I know, military dwarves ignore burrow settings. Or at least, they seem to. I've assigned dwarves in squads to burrows before, but they always ignored it. Didn't even get announcement spam for doing jobs outside the assigned burrow.

Dwarves wont attack someting they cant see - so closing bridges/floodgates at bottlenecks would stop chasing.

Or remove thier eyes, if a handy FB syndrome presents itself.

Kind of need my military force to be able to see :3. Unfortunately, I only have one bottleneck, and its the entrance to my fort. Its looking like I'll have to redesign my entrance to use two bridges, and let them into a killing chamber one group at a time so the enemy can't run away, dragging my squads with them.

[Mechatronic]

Yeah, you need to design the entrance carefully. Generally you want a long corridor to fight in with a bridge to seal enemies and your dwarves in. Note that:

1. Closing a bridge on your dwarves kills them and bridges don't close when there's a large creature on them. So things like elephants will stop them closing. The corridor needs to be long enough so that you can let in enemies and close the bridge behind them before one of your dwarves gets to the bridge. Multiple bridges can help here a bit but it's mainly a matter of a long corridor.

2. It can take a while to kill enemies, particular stuff like Jotunar and Nightwings. If there are enemy archers behind these in a corridor they can fire on your dwarves for a while before your dwarves can get to them. The best defence here is shield user skill.

3. Is the floor of the corridor grass or moss? It will burn sometimes due to Jotunar or Imps launching fire, and your dwarves will not avoid the fire, ad they'll die in droves. Either dig the corridor from stone or construct floors over it.

[Elvang]

3. Is the floor of the corridor grass or moss? It will burn sometimes due to Jotunar or Imps launching fire, and your dwarves will not avoid the fire, ad they'll die in droves. Either dig the corridor from stone or construct floors over it.

Does this still apply in 0.31.25? I've had imps ignite the surface of my map several times (map is completely flat, so it burns for almost a whole season), and nothing is ever hurt by the ensuing wildfire. Caravans, wildlife, and sieges walk/stand in it just fine without ever taking damage.

[Mister Always]

3. Is the floor of the corridor grass or moss? It will burn sometimes due to Jotunar or Imps launching fire, and your dwarves will not avoid the fire, ad they'll die in droves. Either dig the corridor from stone or construct floors over it.

Does this still apply in 0.31.25? I've had imps ignite the surface of my map several times (map is completely flat, so it burns for almost a whole season), and nothing is ever hurt by the ensuing wildfire. Caravans, wildlife, and sieges walk/stand in it just fine without ever taking damage.

If a dorf stands in fire long enough, their fat will melt, and they'll bleed a bit. If enough of their fat melts they'll bleed out.

Also, your millitary does not necessarily need to be able to see. They'll still be able to fight just fine, they just won't immediately run after enemies when they see them. ('cuz they can't see.)